The Whale Rider, Their Eyes Were Watching God, and Frankenstein are three significantly complex and interesting texts. Each of them is built on a distinct plot connected by merely one similarity; while the former two revolve around a strong female character, the latter two are written by a female author. This brings into question, out of these three texts, which most classifies as a feminist text. It is hard to quantify what feminism is with a definition since feminism is defined by how deeply it has seeped into your life. It becomes even harder to establish when it comes to a piece of literature. A text would most likely be feminist; however, when it constitutes a strong female voice. This voice doesn't have to be present in the entire story's narration since the narrator's voice influences how each story is narrated, even by a slight inclusion of it. This voice can be the narrator within the story or the one outside of it; by this, I mean the author of the text. Zora Neale Hurston, by including a strong female narrator, who is also the protagonist, as the one narrating the story as well as inserting her voice as a woman in Their Eyes Were Watching God, has managed to construct an intimate and beautiful feminist literary piece.
Being a woman in society, your life is immediately intertwined with feminism. Your experiences as a woman in society directly involve themselves with feminism and what your opinion on it would be. Hence, if a woman were to write a text, it would be considered more feminist than a man's. In a male-dominated world wherein women struggle to find an equal footing within the patriarchal structures that constantly favor men, it seems almost degrading to have a man write literature and pass it off as a feminist text. However, this is not the only reason The Whale Rider is not a feminist text to me. By writing about a young girl from an older man's perspective, no matter the close relationship they hold, an essential element of feminist writing diminishes. Kahu, albeit a young twelve-year-old girl who has been shielded by her community for most of her life, has had to face certain personal experiences based on her being a woman that have shaped a lot of instances that have occurred throughout the novel. By not giving Kahu the voice to tell her own tale and furthermore giving that voice to a man who has his separate experiences that creates a significant disparity from those of Kahu, this novel dilutes any element of feminism. As a text that depicts gender as one of its most prominent themes, it is interesting how this portrayal of gender, essentially showing how being born a woman affects her role in society, is done by a man's voice throughout the text. Hence, it would be wiser to regard The Whale Rider as a text exploring indigeneity and gender disparity within patriarchal communities, since it has conducted that aspect of writing beautifully, rather than amounting it to a feminist text, something that has not exactly been translated through the text according to what is considered as a feminist text.
Although having a powerful female author, Frankenstein failed to have a strong female character within the story to carry the narration in the direction that could even remotely be considered a feminist text. All the female characters in this text are portrayed in relation to the male characters, who are given more significance in the way the story is told. For
instance, Elizabeth is Victor's passive and desired woman, Justine was a young girl adopted by the Frankenstein household and blamed and executed for William's death, and Caroline is the daughter of Beaufort and wife of Alphonse. It is essential to realize that regardless of the degree of feminism of the author or even her being a woman does not remove from the fact that the piece of work had little to none voice of women in the narration of the story. By having very few female characters and having their voices and stories being directed by the male characters, thereby giving these men greater significance in a society that already holds men on a high stand, Frankenstein, quite similar to The Whale Rider, has managed to place itself as far away as possible from what I understand as a feminist text.
Their Eyes Were Watching God revolves around Janie's journey with acquiring control over her language and voice and how she let that establish her place in her life. By depicting this journey, majorly through Janie's voice, making it that much more evident to the reader of the progression that voice goes through, Hurston has included one of the most significant elements of a feminist text.
The novel's very plot, showing Janie's struggle with gaining control over her voice when she is surrounded by men who wish to subdue her desires and exercise their authority over her, is the basis of a feminist story. Feminism is giving a voice to women who have to cope in a male-dominated world continually. By doing so and showing Janie gaining control not only over her voice but also over her sexuality and sexual desires shows the feminist beliefs that the writer of the text itself holds. A constant symbol in this text was the blossoming pear tree, which is portrayed as a defining moment of understanding sexuality for Janie. The symbol's introduction was also Janie's first instance with sexuality, wherein the pear tree represents the standard of sexual and emotional fulfillment of an individual. Another such symbol would be Janie's hair, which means her freedom over herself and the oppressive men in her life and the womanhood she wishes to achieve. Rather than conforming to the traditional gender stereotypes, however, Hurston has allowed her character to combat the stereotypical notions of a female in society and gain security within her feminity. Hurston has vividly depicted the progression of Janie's realizations and acceptance in the development of her sexuality along with the growth within herself. By doing so, she has made her protagonist, and consequently, the text, feminist.
Although being a woman means that we are directly involved in feminism even by existing, it is not to say that there is no disparity in opinions held between women as well. This incongruity can be seen in the comparison of Their Eyes Were Watching God and Frankenstein. By the portrayal of the female characters within the texts itself, it is clear that Zora Neale Hurston has certain feminist views which have translated into her protagonist, Janie whereas, even by keeping women as the side characters, Mary Shelley has been unable to separate the women from the men that assume some authority over them. Although Shelley could have held similar feminist views as Hurston, and perhaps have been more feminist of an author than Shelley, these supposed views were not elucidated in Frankenstein, making it the furthest away from a feminist text among the three texts observed in this paper. The Whale Rider, by including a strong female character around which the entire story revolves, showing her progression throughout, makes it more of a feminist text than Frankenstein. However, by having a male author, and Witi Ihimaera failing to bring out a stable and robust voice of the protagonist and instead, giving away her voice to a man, something society continues to do regularly, that is, as observed, being translated into literature, The Whale Rider fails to be considered as a feminist text.
One's connection to nature can differ according to the setting within which this relationship is going and the other elements that influence and drive the connection between them. On the one hand, humans can find themselves part of nature and have based their entire identity on this connection. On the other hand, humans can find themselves alienated from their identity that they have established with their relationship with other humans and find themselves trying to connect with nature. This disparity between the relationships one can hold with nature can be easily observed in the two texts The Whale Rider and Lines Composed a Few Miles above Tintern Abbey.
Through The Whale Rider, Witi Ihimaera has introduced us to an entire community of people- Maori, the indigenous people of New Zealand. He introduces us to their culture by presenting certain traditions against the prominent backdrop of nature.
By using vivid descriptions and a voice for the beings within nature, Witi Ihimaera has given nature the likeliness of a living being in The Whale Rider. A strong personality has been introduced to nature, and its entities, which drastically impact the changes that occur throughout this novel. Since The Whale Rider is a romantic text, with the characters and the story itself holding a deep connection with nature, certain mystic and fantastical elements such as the spears, the narrative of the whale which portrays the journey he and his herd are taking through the vast expanse of water and his loyal and constant connection to his human master, etc., are striking throughout the novel.
The beginning of time and the story within this book as well, the story of all things begin with nature. Nature has been portrayed as sacred, something to be revered. Simultaneously, however, it is with nature and humans thriving together is there harmony in the world. Maori people are particularly connected to nature, to the point wherein the two seem to co-exist. We are privy to this when we are introduced to the first Whale Rider, Kahutia Te Rangi, the ancestor of Koro Apirana, and little Kahu, his namesake's village. Using the Whale Rider symbol as a whole, the Maori community that Koro Apirana is chief of finds itself connected to nature and, more specifically, to a majestic creature of nature, the whale. A large part of their identity thus revolves around their relationship with nature.
Another instance would be the burial of Kahu's birth cord in the earth on the marae in Whangara. Kahu finds herself connected to her father's land even though she spent most of her years at her mother's village, which is possibly a result of the early establishment of her identity within nature. A parallel to this would be when Rawiri leaves for Australia to go out and see the world and says this, "Unlike Kahu's, my birth cord must not have been put in the ground at Whangara, because I didn't return there until four years later." This shows how Rawiri, representing the kind of people who find it hard to connect with their cultural identity, himself attaches some part of his identity to nature, thereby shaping it based on nature itself.
Another notable instance would be Kahu's relationship with nature and how it affects Kahu's identity. Being the descendant of the Whale Rider, Kahu is bestowed with certain gifts by nature that strengthens her identity and, consequently, Whangara since she can harness her abilities to bring relief during times of hardships. Since The Whale Rider explores an equal and mutual connection between humans and nature, we can see how deep that relationship runs when we observe how her energy calls out to the bull whale who leads his herd towards who he believes to be his master. Later on, we can see that the absence of the energy of his master has resulted in a suicidal tragedy of the herd of whales who have gathered on the shore. Something important to note in the descriptions that Witi Ihimaera has given is the significant disparity between the beginning of chapter 14 and the end of chapter 15. While the beginning describes the incredible beauty that nature possesses by painting the underwater sea palaces in Antarctica's icy waters and the peaceful imagery of the whales' movement through the scene, the end contrasts with this imagery dramatically by depicting the graphic butchering of the whales. This depiction of nature shows the contrast between the deep connection with nature and the disconnect one feels from nature to drive them to harm a being of nature brutally.
In Tintern Abbey, it is very clear from the beginning of the poem itself that the speaker holds great disdain for the lonely and depleting urban life. However, by spending the slightest time with nature, one can restore and nourish the human soul, and so powerful is nature that even simplistic memories of time spent in the pristine landscapes can be healing. William Wordsworth has composed a poem which depicts the speaker who feels alienated from the other humans, who experience this disparity by living in the 'lonely' and 'dreary' towns and cities but do not take the comfort that nature offers.
Like mentioned earlier, it is essential to acknowledge the setting within which the text is written. In The Whale Rider, we can see that the connection to nature had a lot to do with the culture of the Maori tribe and the traditions that they held. A deterrence from these traditions would result in a disconnect from nature and consequently violate it, as seen in the whaling in the novel and which continues to occur. In Tintern Abbey, however, we can see that the poem is set during industrialization. The constant transformation of nature to build industries means fewer sustained places of nature to nourish and comfort oneself.
More than the deep connection with nature like we see in The Whale Rider, Tintern Abbey speaks about nature's restorative power. So while we see a mutual and equal relationship between nature and humans in The Whale Rider, Tintern Abbey only depicts all the tranquillity, pleasures, and nourishment that the speaker continues to acquire from nature, thus showing their unequal relationship.
In Tintern Abbey, more than connecting one's identity to nature, there is a sense of sentimentality and connecting one's memories to natural beauty. As compared to the Maori belief, Wordsworth depicts an incredibly healing yet temporary relationship with nature. There is no unity in their relationship other than the unity the speaker feels with the woods and the river. Although this shows some connection to nature, it's too specific to be the all- encompassing kind that we find in The Whale Rider.
Like feminism, one's relationship with a broad and inherently abstract concept such as nature is complicated to quantify into good or bad. However, we can observe that while The Whale Rider shows us an evolutionary relationship with nature, the relationship the speaker has with it is bordering on exploitation since all we can see is him taking in the beauty of nature and all that it has to offer without connecting himself with it. Using nature as a form of reprieve from his urban life's perils shows an incomplete relationship that he shares with nature and not merely an alienation of humans from humans by nature. So while there is inherently no such thing as good or bad concerning this, The Whale Rider shows a purer, more intimate connection than the Tintern Abbey.
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